Argh, there were only two left.
So I had the store manager check for the availability of more for reordering--scratch that!--or more close by. There are plenty of Costcos within 80 miles of me--Burlington, Smokey Point, Snohomish and Everett--but the closest one with this wine, and just 17 bottles at that, was all the way down in Woodinville. After that, it would be Gig Harbor and then Bend, Oregon, who still had five cases. So when I got home I called Woodinville and asked if they would set all 17 aside for me--maybe not as much as I would have bought but why go all that way and leave anything behind. I totally expected them to tell me "we're not set up for that" which is painfully obviously the case, but since I'm driving 100 miles to their store for this one thing, maybe I'd get a Very Nice Person on the other end of the phone who'd want to give me the ironclad guarantee that what I came for would be there. And I did. She said all I had to do was see a manager.
When I arrived the next morning I had a bit of an issue finding a manager let alone someone who cared, and when I did I found out that my Very Nice Person hadn't left the wine in either the obvious place or any even remotely second-most obvious place, nor had she left anyone a note to document her actions, but finally a manager who looks like my friend Kathryn Warner confirmed that the wine still showed in their inventory and had definitely been removed from the display, which I knew because it was the first thing I checked when I got there. So it was definitely in the store--but where? "Since I was told to ask for a manager when I got here," I said, trying not to sound too dumbfounded by the confusion, "I was thinking it would probably go into the admin offices up near the cash registers. You know, where the managers are." "YOU'D THINK," replied not-Kathryn.
So an APB then went out to available persons to start searching the store. The stores are so huge, it's mind-numbing to contemplate where something might be if it's not where it should be. "This might take a few hours," not-Kathryn said apologetically. "Fine, I've got all day," I lied cheerfully.
Now every Costco I've ever been in has a long lane of 20 or so cash registers of which most, but usually not all except on holidays when traffic is doubled or tripled, will be open at any one time. Left to right, left being closer to the entrance, they tend to open the left registers last--most likely to route all traffic past the snack bar which is further right. And there's usually a cluster of carts down there in that left area to prevent people sneaking through and they're usually full of stuff that looks like it's been returned and is awaiting someone to put them back into inventory. An hour or so had passed when me and not-Kathryn reunited for a status report and happened to look in that direction and almost in unison said, "you don't suppose...."
And there it was. Amid the jackets, shop mats and Kitchen Aid mixers, buried in a cart under a bunch of empty Duracell battery boxes, was my wine plus a very well used power drill and a broken Vitamix. It's pretty close to a total fluke that we found it.
So happiness reigns in my cellar again. Anyone going to Gig Harbor soon?
